Method and apparatus for lining and leveling track

ABSTRACT

In the lining and leveling of track, the rail fastening is loosened, the track gage is corrected, and the rail fastening is tightened again before the track is lowered on the tamped ballast. The track gage correction is effectuated by means of two pairs of clamping rollers which grip the rails. A tension linkage interconnects the outer rollers of the two pairs and presses them against the outer lateral faces of the rails, a pressure linkage interconnects the inner rollers of the two pairs and presses them against the inner rail faces, turnbuckle or like means is provided for adjusting the length of the linkages, and a hydraulic piston-and-cylinder drive is mounted in each linkage.

United States Patent 1 1 Plasser et al. g

[11] 3,871,299 1 Mar. 18, 1975 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LINING ANDLEVELING TRACK [76] Inventors: Franz Plasser, deceased, late ofJohannesgasse 3, Vienna, Austria A-lOlO, by said Erna Plasser, heir;Josef Theurer, Johannesgasse 3, Vienna, Austria A-10l0 [22] Filed: Oct.26, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 410,292

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data -[58] Field of Search 33/287,144, 146; 254/43;

[56] 7 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS I 1,607,882 11/1926Engelgau 33/146 3,274,952 9/1966 Fekete 104/7 R 3,524,624 8/1970Blackwell, Jr. et al. 33/144 3,552,320 l/l97l Traupmann 104/7 PrimaryExaminerLloyd L. King Assistant ExaminerRichard A. Bertsch Attorney,Agent, or FirmKurt Kelman I [57] ABSTRACT In the lining and leveling oftrack, the rail fastening is loosened,=the track gage is corrected, andthe rail ,fastening is tightened again before the track is lowered onthe tamped ballast. The track gage correction is effectuated by rneansof two pairs of clamping rollers which grip the rails. A tension linkageinterconnects the outer rollers of the two pairs and presses themagainst the outer lateral faces of the rails, a pressure linkageinterconnects the inner rollers of the two pairs and pres'ses'themagainst the inner rail faces, turnbuckle or like means is provided foradjusting the length of the linkages, and a hydraulic piston-andcylinderdrive is mounted in each linkage.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures I t METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LINING ANDLEVELING TRACK I The present invention relates to improvements in amethod and apparatus for lining and leveling a track.

A railroad track comprises two rails fastened to support means restingon ballast, the support means consisting of conventional wooden ties ,ora concrete suping an outer roller for rolling engagement with an outerlateral face of a respective one of the rails and an inner roller forrolling engagement with an inner lateral face of the respective rail.The rollers of each pair are arranged for clamping the respective rail.The rollers of each pair are arranged for clamping the respective railtherebetween in the manner of pliers, and a hydraulically operable leversystem acutates the rollers into and v out of clamping engagement withthe rails.

Steadyimprovement of the quality of railroad beds and tracks over thelast few years-has made it possible to increase the speed of trainsconsiderably. Many tracks today enable trains to run at speeds in excessof I km/h. Experience has shown that such train speeds cause variationsin the track gage, and this circumstance has not been taken intoconsideration in conventional track correction procedures.

It is the primary object of this invention to correct deviations in thetrack gage during track position correction.

According to the method of the invention, the fastening of the rails tothe support means is loosened, preferably before the track is raised,the track gage is corrected simultaneousely with the lining and tamping,the fastening is tightened, and the track is lowered to the tampedballast.

This method is carried out according to the present invention with aconventional apparatus of the abovedescribed type wherein a tensionlinkage interconnects the outer rollers of the two pairs and pressesthem against the outer lateral faces of the rails, a pressure linkageinterconnects the inner rollers of the two pairs and presses themagainst the inner lateral faces of the rails, means is provided foradjusting the length of each linkage, and a hydraulicpiston-and-cylinder drive is mounted in each of the linkages.

With such an apparatus, when the pistons have been set in the cylindersof the hydraulic drives so as to hold the linkages at the desired gage,the rails will be forced by their clamping rollers to assume the setgage at any point where they deviate therefrom, the clamping rollersmoving the rails laterally against the,resistance of the loosened, butnot removed, rail fastening means as the mobile apparatus advances alongthe track during the lining and leveling operation. After the rails havethus been set at the desired gage, the rail fastening means aretightened again to retain the gage.

The length of the linkages is adjustable, for instance by a turnbuckleor like element, so that the track gage correction device may be usedwith different gage norms.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of this inventionwill become more apparent from the following detailed description of anow preferred embodiment of an apparatus, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawingwherein FIG. 1 is a schematic front elevational viewof the track gage correction apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the essential structural elements of theapparatus of FIG. 1, the carrier frame having been omitted for the sakeof clarity; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic side elevational view of a conventional lining,leveling and tamping machine incor porating the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and2.

Referring now to the drawing, and more particularly to FIG. 3, agenerally conventional track lining, leveling and tamping machine isshown to comprise frame 1 mounted for mobility on a track which, as isseen in FIG. 1, comprises two rails 17, 17 fastened to ties 18, whichare rail support means resting on ballast (now shown), by means of railfastening means 19. Frame 1 carries at the front thereof a trackleveling and lining unit including pairs of rail gripping rollers 8, 9and 10, 11, the unit being mounted on the frame for vertical and lateralmovement for leveling and lining the track in a manner well known perse.

A pair of carrier elements 2, 3 are pivotally mounted on frame 1,carrier element 2 pivotally supporting a pair of levers 4, 5 and carrierelement 3 pivotally sup? porting a pair of levers 6, 7. Each pair oflevers consists of simple lever 4, 7 and a bell crank lever 5, 6,rollers 8 to 10 being mounted at the free ends of the levers. As clearlyshown in FIG. 1, each pair of rollers includes an outer roller 8, 11 forrolling engagement with an outer lateral face of a respective one ofrails 17 and an inner roller 9, 10 for rolling engagement with an innerlateral face of the respective rail, the rollers of each pair beingarranged for clamping the respective rails therebetween like pliers.

Tension linkage 14 interconnects bell crank levers 5, 6 which carryouter rollers 8, 11, thus pressing the outer rollers against the outerlateral faces of the rails. Turnbuckle 13 is mounted in the linkage toenable its length to be adjusted according to different gage norms.Furthermore, hydraulic piston-and-cylinder drive 12 is mounted inlinkage 14.

Similarly, pressure linkage 14 interconnects simple levers 4, 7 whichcarry inner rollers 9, 10, thus pressing the inner rollers against theinner faces of the rails. Turnbuckle 16 is mounted in the linkage toenable its length to be similarly adjusted, and hydraulicnpistonand-cylinder drive 15 is mounted in linkage 14. For the sake ofclarity, part of pressure linkage 14 is omitted from FIG. 1.

When pressure fluid is supplied to drive 12 to move its piston, arespective one of the bell crank levers will be pivoted counterclockwiseto force the outer clamping roller carried thereby laterally against arespective rail 17. This will move therail, after its fastening means 19have been loosened, towards the other rail, thus adjusting the trackgage to a desired measure if it exceeds this measure. Adjustment ofturnbuckle 13 holds the device at the gage norm.

Similarly, pressure fluid is supplied to drive 15 to spread the railsapart when the track gage is less than that desired.

While the apparatus may be operated in the abovedescribed manner, i.e.,by. moving the piston of the hydraulic drive, the track gage may also becorrected during the continuous advance of the mobile apparatus duringthe lining and leveling operation by simply blocking the pistons in aposition corresponding to the desired gage. In other words, sufficienthydraulic fluid is supplied to each drive to hold the pistons in alateral position corresponding to the desired track gage. The laterallystationary clamping rollers, which grip the two rails, will then forcethe same against the resistance of the loosened fastening means 19 toassume the desired track gage during the advance of the machine over thetrack. This latter procedure is particularly useful when the deviationsfrom the desired gage are small and/or a ballast cleaning operationpreceded the track correction, in which operation the fastening meansbecome somewhat loose and must be tightened again. In this case, it isadvantageous if a signaling device 18 is connected to the hydraulicdrives so that signals are produced which indicate changes in the pistonposition in the cylinder which correspond to larger gage deviations andthus may automatically produce gage corrections. The signaling device ispreferably connected to a recording device 19 which receives the signalstherefrom and records the track gage continuously during advance of themachine.

An implement for loosening the rail fastening means may be mounted on anadvance bogie so that the fastening means may be loosened before thetrack is raised, lined and leveled. Since the fastening means are notremoved but only loosened, minor deviations from the desired gage willbe automatically corrected during the continuous lining and leveling ofthe track when hydraulic drives 12, are blocked in position to establishthe desired gage. The rails, which are gripped by the clamping rollers,will thus be moved laterally to assume the desired track gage.

FIG. 3 shows a lining, leveling and tamping maching advancing on thetrack in the direction of machine 20. Equipped with the track gagecorrection apparatus of the present invention, this machine willautomatically correct the gage during or shortly after lifting the trackand particularly during the lining and leveling thereof. After the trackhas been corrected, the rail fastening means are tightened again so thatthe rails remain in 4 their adjusted position.

Track gage correction is particularly required on modern rapid speedtracks requiring gage accuracies down to a range of 10 mm.

What is claimed is:

1. In a method of lining and leveling a track comprising two railsfastened to support means resting on ballast, wherein the track israised and lined, and the ballast is tamped under the support means toestablish a desired level, the improvement of loosening the fastening ofthe rails to the support means, correcting the track gage simultaneouslywith the lining and tamping, tightening the fastening of the rails tothe support means, and lowering the track to the tamped ballast.

2. In the method of claim 1, the rail fastening being loosened beforethe track is raised.

3. In a mobile apparatus for lining and leveling a track, whichcomprises a frame mounted for mobility on the track, two pairs ofrollers mounted on the frame, each pair of the rollers including anouter roller for rolling engagement with an outer lateral face of arespective one of the rails and an inner roller for rolling engagementwith an inner lateral face of the respective rail, the rollers of eachpair being arranged for clam ping the respective rail therebetween, andhydraulically operable lever system for actuating the rollers into andout of clamping engagement with the rails, the improvement of l. atension linkage interconnecting the outer rollers of the two pairs andpressing them against the outer lateral faces of the rails,

2. a pressure linkage interconnecting the inner rollers of the two pairsand pressing them against the inner lateral faces of the rails,

3. turnbuckle for adjusting the length of each of the linkages, and

4. a hydraulic piston-and-cylinder drive mounted in each of thelinkages.

4. In the mobile track lining and leveling apparatus of claim 3, asignaling device producing signals indicating changes of the pistonposition in the cylinder of the hydraulic drive.

5. In the mobile track lining and leveling apparatus of claim 5, arecording device receiving the signals.

=l l= l =l

1. a tension linkage interconnecting the oUter rollers of the two pairsand pressing them against the outer lateral faces of the rails,
 1. In amethod of lining and leveling a track comprising two rails fastened tosupport means resting on ballast, wherein the track is raised and lined,and the ballast is tamped under the support means to establish a desiredlevel, the improvement of loosening the fastening of the rails to thesupport means, correcting the track gage simultaneously with the liningand tamping, tightening the fastening of the rails to the support means,and lowering the track to the tamped ballast.
 2. In the method of claim1, the rail fastening being loosened before the track is raised.
 2. apressure linkage interconnecting the inner rollers of the two pairs andpressing them against the inner lateral faces of the rails,
 3. In amobile apparatus for lining and leveling a track, which comprises aframe mounted for mobility on the track, two pairs of rollers mounted onthe frame, each pair of the rollers including an outer roller forrolling engagement with an outer lateral face of a respective one of therails and an inner roller for rolling engagement with an inner lateralface of the respective rail, the rollers of each pair being arranged forclamping the respective rail therebetween, and hydraulically operablelever system for actuating the rollers into and out of clampingengagement with the rails, the improvement of
 1. a tension linkageinterconnecting the oUter rollers of the two pairs and pressing themagainst the outer lateral faces of the rails,
 2. a pressure linkageinterconnecting the inner rollers of the two pairs and pressing themagainst the inner lateral faces of the rails,
 3. turnbuckle foradjusting the length of each of the linkages, and
 4. a hydraulicpiston-and-cylinder drive mounted in each of the linkages.
 4. ahydraulic piston-and-cylinder drive mounted in each of the linkages. 4.In the mobile track lining and leveling apparatus of claim 3, asignaling device producing signals indicating changes of the pistonposition in the cylinder of the hydraulic drive.
 5. In the mobile tracklining and leveling apparatus of claim 5, a recording device receivingthe signals.